Episode #104: Makoto is wearing a tight white minidress with thigh-high blue boots. I feel the need to mention that. Chibi-Usa gives the gang a letter from her mom, which is hilariously badly-written (I still remember reading someone referring to the "No Kanji" nature of Neo-Queen Serenity's script, all these years later). Chibi-Usa is also there to make friends and build character, but the first boy she meets is super-beautiful, and she's smitten... until he starts hitting on her, openly mimics Crayon Shin-chan, and then WHIPS OUT HIS PENIS until his mom smacks him in the head and drags him off. Okay, this episode is awesome.

The kid doesn't show up again, but some young boy who's apparently... a tea master and head of a famous tea-master household?... is our new Heart Crystal Target of the week. They're really making these people into minor characters while the majors do all of the heavy-lifting- I don't mind that change, honestly. Chibi-Usa tries to rescue him, but there's a bunch of funny bits where she falls while transforming and gets interrupted by Eudial during her "I'll punish you!" rant, avoiding the "Stock Footage" and instead just being gags on how that doesn't always work. Then the Pink Sugar Heart Attack not only spritzes out at twenty feet, but Chibi-Usa then WALKS IT into the villain, annoying her greatly. Okay, Chibi-Usa's a lot more tolerable when she's embarrassing herself in battle.

Oh, and the kid's either a girl, or simply a Sailor Cosplayer in the end, embarrassing everybody. This one's... not a very serious episode.

Episode #105: Yay- another MAKOTO-focused episode! Here, she's experiencing great self-doubt owing to a loss against some Daimon in an off-screen battle. And she's training with a Buddhist monk way up in the mountains... and naturally Mamoru is working in a resort hotel nearby, which means all the girls have to come, too. And of course HARUKA & MICHIRU are here too, in a moment that really defies even the coincidental nature inherent to this series, until you realize they have the specific ability to "sense" when stuff is coming. Though a group of guys ogling the Sailors, then IMMEDIATELY getting distracted by the "hotter chicks" Haruka & Michiru, and the girls' reactions, are pretty hilarious.

Mako's quest for self-perfection is a mere backdrop to the girls' antics most of the time, but the monk seems interesting, in that he cops to a lot of self-doubt and acts a bit sillier than his serious persona would imply. He says that relaxation is important, and not to try too hard, which of course Jupiter ignores when she tries to fight the inevitable Daimon by herself, nearly getting the entire team killed after shooing away Uranus & Neptune's help. The girls all combine their powers to break a snare, leading to Jupiter finally heeding the advice and centering herself calmly, then firing out a Sparkling Wide Pressure. And unlike last time, where the villain deflected it back... it KILLS THE DAIMON?!?? A Sailor SOLOS A FREAKING MONSTER??? What madness is THIS???! Her cheerful, almost crying face at the joy of this is priceless.

Episode #106: The girls are visiting High Schools now, and come across the Victim of the Week- a famous athlete named "Elza Gray", who appears distinctly non-Japanese (dark skin with red/pink hair). Who FEELS UP Mako & Minako to determine the firmness of their asses, and suggests this makes them ideal for track & field. And the girls then laugh this off (#MeToo). However, the Daimon strikes REALLY early, as this whole thing is just a prelude to the origin story of Sailor Uranus (who was an old rival of Elza's). Haruka recalls being confronted with her destiny by Michiru, who shared the same prophetic dreams about The Silence. Haruka Resists The Call, wishing for a normal life, and her own dreams, which Michiru derides as selfish. However, she later confesses that she feels the same way, but is obligated to sacrifice herself to defend humanity- she ALSO confesses that shes totes in love with Haruka, in that "it's pretty clear, but she doesn't SAY it" way, admitting that "I want to be the girl who rides with you by the sea", and that she was following Haruka's career BEFORE she knew she was gonna be a Sailor.

Back to the present, the two Sailors interrupt the Monster snaring the others (because OF COURSE it has a snare), and make short work of it- Uranus even keeping up with the goofy-ass jogging "Shoe-Torso" Daimon in a race, because "I am the wind, after all". Haruka thinks to herself about this never-ending battle that she's chosen, but confesses "I'm glad I met you, Michiru". And then says "I won't let you go home tonight", which I'm desperately hoping means the same thing it would mean in English.

An interesting episode. Haruka's origin story is pretty boring (essentially "she gets confronted by Neptune"), but the actual CHARACTER part of it is fascinating, as she, like Usagi, never wanted this life, and feels constrained by her duty. But the whole Haruka/Michiru thing is REALLY explicit here, to the point where nobody could really miss out on it. And then she and Neptune gain TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCES!!!

Episode #107: Chibi-Usa has a first crush! Well, aside from the man who turns out to be her father, of course. But sadly, he's in love with their art teacher... Michiru? Well hell. He even gives her flowers ("they represent passionate love!")- she thankfully blows it off as a sweet gift and thanks him once she gets over the shock. That story's over by the second act, however, as Eudial and her weird "Cubist Art Monster" Daimon attack. It actually summons some creatures to fight Uranus & Neptune (doing rather well against Uranus, in fact), but Neptune figures out that water is their weakness (given that they're sculpted from sand), and Deep Submerge nearly melts the Daimon, allowing Sialor Moon to finish it off.

Episode #108: Mamoru meets a friend- and English gentleman living in a great manor house with international students frequently attending his parties. This one is curious, because it's a sign of Mamoru's "regular life" (he's still a student), as well as a dubbing issue- the main crux of the matter is the girls being invited to a party where everyone speaks English. Except of course in the DUB this makes no sense, so it's shifted to "they'll be speaking proper English, so we need to speak it even better". Nice touch, as Mako & Usagi have TERRIBLE English, but Rei joins them in shock & horror when it turns out they have to brush up on the language. Ami and Minako do not- Ami's always the genius, of course, but Minako would normally be with them... except of course she lived in England for a time, and so speaks it with confidence. This hasn't been brought up in like sixty episodes, so it's good of them to remember that.

The girls are nervous at the part (most can't keep up with Ami's English skills), and Usagi grabs a drink to cool down. From a clear goblet. Oh yup, now Usagi is SHITFACED, and staggers through the ballroom, embarrassing herself more than usual. Though she sobers up quickly, and soon starts dancing with Haruka. Mamoru gives the guy's interesting backstory- he amassed a huge fortune while young, but found himself alone in the world and with no one to pass it on to, so decided to devote himself to the future on behalf of others. Sadly, this is mostly exposition- unlike the first season of the show Sailor Moon S is largely stuck with a huge cast, and so these backgrounders never really get too much focus.

(Monster Powers: First Form: Blasts From Roses; Second Form: "Watz of Hell" Multiattack Blast w/ Notes, "Yodel of the Devil" Area Blast)

And that's the first half of Sailor Moon S! It's really quite peculiar- this season contains some of the finest work of the series, and the animation is definitely better overall, but you can absolutely see them spinning their wheels at points. Dropping Kaolinite for Eudial adds absolutely nothing to the series, except that Eudial is slightly more silly, and prone to physical comedy. Both even have red hair! And really... 19 episodes in, and we don't get even the slightest indication of who the villains are, how they interact with each other, or anything? Sure, mystery was a big component of other seasons (Metalia and Death Phantom were both hidden as well), but we at least saw the villains talk to each other. A few comments between a "Professor" (who is STILL only seen in shadows) and his #2 agent/s don't cut it.

The Haruka/Michiru dynamic is definitely a good shot in the arm for the series, however. The two are a fascinating contrast to the other Sailors, given that they're more stoic and mature- they're less emotional, and MUCH more aloof. Their comparative heartlessness and focus on their mission is in stark opposition to the emotional, "Save EVERYONE!" mentality of the other girls, giving us some great conflict. Though I will say that seeing them show up in EVERY episode gets a trifle dull, especially if they have nothing to really add. It makes them a bit too smug at times, and they dominate a lot of the plot at other moments. And now that the show has to stick in five Sailors, two OTHER Sailors, plus the Victim of the Week... they really gloss over a lot of stuff. Chibi-Usa's crush being in love with Michiru, for example, doesn't get much attention because there's so much else going on. Hell, poor MAMO hardly never shows up- Uranus & Neptune tend to take up his "save the day" role, leaving him out of things.

You can really see them screw around with the "Victim of the Week" mentality here, as some of these guys are COMPLETELY meaningless except as a backdrop to a fight- sometimes they just have a couple of lines apiece, compared to the first season, which would put a HUGE amount of focus on the famous painter, or Naru's "older sister". Every episode following the same format gets a trifle dull, though. Way too "same-y".

Episode #109: Hey, new opening! Now with a better shot of the Professor, and our first glimpse of Hotaru Tomoe! In a funny bit, Minako starts to worry about the fact that she hasn't been targetted for her Pure Heart Crystal yet. She not only obsesses over it to excess, but Luna tries to convince her that the enemy just hasn't noticed it yet, given how USAGI'S was targetted, and she's obssessed with her boyfriend, eating, sleeping, slacking off and hating her studies- "That's not being pure-hearted; that's just being an idiot".

We finally get more explanation from the villains, as Professor Tomoe mentions that there actually has to be a special person to utilize the Holy Grail- if it's on their side, they can use it to cover the world in darkness. If a good guy uses it, they can undo all of the villains' plans.

Minako decides to donate blood at a dangerous rate to prove her pure-heartedness, concerning everyone involved (and drawing the attention of Haruka & Michiru), and then finally gets her wish- her Heart Crystal is removed! And then, in the greatest bit EVER, she lurches forward, grasps the heart... and runs away with it, cackling about how this proves she was pure-hearted after all! Usagi and Eudial are aghast and have to friggin' chase after the lunatic. Minako finally collapses (with an exhausted smile on her face), as Eudial's silly Daimon "Doorknobder" manages to slap doors and locks on every exist, trapping Usagi, Haruka & Michiru in with the bad guys. With the heroes concerned over whether or not to transform in front of each other, Usagi, protector of all life, does the only thing she can do- shocking her newest friends by TRANSFORMING right in front of them!

And before the girls can be too shocked by the revelation, they themselves have to transform to save a solitary Moon from the villain. Therefore, the cat's fully out of the bag. Doorknobder gets thumped by the Sailors pretty good, and Sailor Moon tries her Moon Spiral Heart Attack at both her and Eudial... who whips out a "Fire Buster" flamethrower, that actually DEFLECTS the attack right into her Daimon! Eudial forces the heroes to group up together for her final attack (threatening an unconscious Minako to get them to do it), but Mina AWAKENS, transforming and then Love-Me Chaining the Fire Buster. Eudial shouts "Damn!" and then flees.

Very important episode, and Minako's psychosis is always great for a laugh.

Episode #110: Another game-changer, as it's called The Deaths of Uranus & Neptune: A Talisman Appears!. Eudial overhears a conversation between the other Witches 5 over her repeated failures, with the only one we can see, Mimete, making sure that Eudial is listening- she points out to the others that she's next in line. Eudial grouses over their plotting and scheming "Did they forget who taught them to do their jobs?"), then phones up Haruka/Uranus, announcing her plans to get the Talisman- Uranus & Neptune take the bait, both having foreseen the Talisman's appearance that morning. In a great bit, Haruka contemplates the hands that must cause some measure of torment and sacrifice to get the Talisman, but Michiru intertwins her own hand with Haruka's ("I love your hands"). Sexy as balls, yo.

Eudial leaving a taunting message to Haruka, then getting cut off by the machine, is great, too.

Haruka then calls Usagi to come meet them, and the others talk about it- and we see SAILOR PLUTO in the crowd watching Chibi-Usa speak to Mamoru about it! In civilian clothes! And when Usagi meets the two girls, Haruka TEARS OFF HER BROOCH; warns her that if she interferes again, "-- you'll die!"; announces the coming of the Silence and the need to find the Messiah; and then they leave... in a HELICOPTER?!? The FRIG did they get a helicopter?

Setsuna Meioh then makes her first real appearance, saying she's an "old acquaintance" of Uranus & Neptune's, and points Usagi the way there. Her voice is classically unemotive and dry, as you'd expect of Sailor Pluto, but she lets out a small smile when Usagi's willing to go, even though she can't transform. Uranus & Neptune arrive at the "Marine Cathedral" church in the waters of Tokyo, and of COURSE it turns out that two Talisman holders are THEM. Eudial catches them with her traps and taunts them, but Uranus casually points out that "I can't have a Talisman", owing to her lack of pure heart- her hands are too dirty. And Neptune, despite their earlier promise to ignore the fate of the other if it means getting a Talisman, of COURSE walks straight through a deathtrap trying to save Uranus, because of this human emotion called WUV.

Neptune walks through a hall of Laser Fire, then gets blasted by Eudial's gun, which unleashes her Talisman- a Mirror. Then Usagi arrives, in normal form, and friggin' TACKLES Eudial off the platform! Uranus cuts this bittersweet little speech about Michiru "going off into your own little world", chides Usagi's risk-taking, then admires her self-assuredness that she can save the world WITHOUT the Talismans... but blasts herself with Eudial's gun (revealing a Sword), telling Sailor Moon to find the third Talisman without them. So they're prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice after all.

Episode #111: Eudial swipes the Sword and the Mirror and runs away, and the Sailors chase her- the four & Chibi-Moon are stopped by "Sticky Ooze" from Eudial's gadgets, leaving only Sailor Moon. See... now this is why I wished they'd have built up the Witches 5 as better characters- this would have SO much more impact if she'd even gotten "Jadeite" levels of characterization. But instead, all we see is that she's kinda mean.

Things happen very, VERY quickly from here on in. Eudial counters Moon Spiral Heart Attack once more, and it looks to be all over. Setsuna Meioh reappears, revealing herself to be SAILOR PLUTO, complete with transformation sequence (which makes her look like the most "womanly" of the Sailors, if you know what I mean), and that the top of her trademark staff is the third Talisman (!!), which draws the other two from Eudial, brings Uranus & Neptune back into the fold, and gives them their Heart Crystals back! The three Talismans form the Holy Grail, which Sailor Moon grasps before Eudial (who's held everyone off with more fire), thus transforming into an UPPER TIER of Sailor Moon (oh yeah, this is an anime, alright), with a rainbow skirt and cellophane ribbons & junk. She simply one-arms Eudial's Fire Buster attack right back into her, sending her away.

Eudial flees to fight another day, but Mimete's sent her trademark snails to eat away at the brakes of her van... which ends up killing her, as she drives off the road and into the ocean. Yeah, a death by CAR ACCIDENT, that's what Eudial gets. Meanwhile, the villains of every prior seasons could TELEPORT, thus making her look like a doofus. Sailor Moon collapses due to her attack, so Uranus is all "Oh, she's not the Messiah, I guess", as Messiahs are supposed to have unlimited power. Thus, that's gonna be Uranus & Neptune's new mission- find the Messiah. Oh, and we see a young girl struggling with some kind of magical pain, and Sailor Moon fans will instantly recognize her as Hotaru Tomoe.

Yeah, this one is BIG. It wraps up the "Eudial" section quickly (giving her a pretty anticlimactic send-off), and throws down all three Talismans in a single two-parter. It's... kind of odd, in that it's a huge climax, yet it feels weird because what we've been searching for for more than 20 episodes has suddenly been spammed out in only two- all three Talismans coming out at once, when there were so many failed instances before. It thus comes off like all of those episodes were just a waste of time until we got to the REAL story, which is happening now. Pluto's introduction was a bit of a Deus Ex Machina, killing the tension with a literal "oh hey, I had the other thing we were searching for this entire time; oh, and I healed your friends and it turns out they can survive without the Talismans after all", which is a HUGELY anticlimactic finish to the major crux of Uranus & Neptune, which was that they were inevitably going to have to kill someone to save the world. Because now it's revealed that oh- they never actually had to do that at all.

Yeah, this one is BIG. It wraps up the "Eudial" section quickly (giving her a pretty anticlimactic send-off), and throws down all three Talismans in a single two-parter. It's... kind of odd, in that it's a huge climax, yet it feels weird because what we've been searching for for more than 20 episodes has suddenly been spammed out in only two- all three Talismans coming out at once, when there were so many failed instances before. It thus comes off like all of those episodes were just a waste of time until we got to the REAL story, which is happening now. Pluto's introduction was a bit of a Deus Ex Machina, killing the tension with a literal "oh hey, I had the other thing we were searching for this entire time; oh, and I healed your friends and it turns out they can survive without the Talismans after all", which is a HUGELY anticlimactic finish to the major crux of Uranus & Neptune, which was that they were inevitably going to have to kill someone to save the world. Because now it's revealed that oh- they never actually had to do that at all.

This is another place where the abilities of the anime staff to come up with interesting filler clashes with the necessity to adapt Takeuchi's original storyline ... which unfortunately basically runs on poorly considered Deus ex machinae.

From what I understand, the only conflict between the two groups of senshi was the result of mind control by the bad guys, so apparently not. I don't like the manga, but I'll acknowledge when it got things righter than the anime, and this is one time.

From what I understand, the only conflict between the two groups of senshi was the result of mind control by the bad guys, so apparently not. I don't like the manga, but I'll acknowledge when it got things righter than the anime, and this is one time.

ohhhhhhhhhh- interesting.

And yeah... reading the manga & watching Sailor Moon Crystal (which MOSTLY keeps in line with the manga) was a revelation. I was like "THIS is the thing the snobs have been going on about being superior to the anime? THIS?" The action scenes make no sense- everyone is flying for no reason, and every attack is just a word and then the other thing gets blown away. New outfits twice a collected book. Like the other Sailors? TOUGH TOENAIL! You're getting all Usagi and Mamoru and you're going to LIKE IT!

One thing I find increasingly odd about Sailor Moon S is that Uranus & Neptune are getting all this characterization, to the point where halfway through to season, they've each received more focus than either Mars, Mercury, Jupiter or Venus had. Those girls got one or two episodes of focus PER SEASON, and Uranus & Neptune have been getting quite a few, AND have prominent roles in almost all of the "Focus Episodes" or filler. It's like the director just fell in love with his new "toys" and decided to use them non-stop.

I mean, I LIKE them as characters, but it's weird that it's so one-sided.

Episode #112: Now we get the proper debut of Hotaru Tomoe- a sickly, pale, dark-haired young girl quickly befriended by Chibi-Usa. And holy Jesus Christ she debuts with a DEMONIC VOICE speaking through her, via some speakers placed beside her while she sits in a dark room filled with childish toys. CRIMINY. And now the Professor's mission is to gather pure hearts, that are converted into energy for her awakening- she is the Messiah of the Silence.

Mimete, our new "General", already looks like she's going to be a ton of fun, being a chesty, nerdy girl with Glinda-like hair and glasses (!!), fawning over pictures of pretty boys while blushing. And her target is a handsome male actor- "Before I steal your pure heart and KILL YOU... you have to taste these cakes I made for you!" Oh yes, I love this one. She believes he's fallen in love with her when he licks some of the frosting and enjoys it, mourns his eventual death, and weeps real tears ("Please forget about me!"), because Mimete is AWESOME. When she sees him canoodling with his co-star, however, she loses it and sends a goofy-ass Daimon after them- a poncho-wearing cowgirl riding a pogo-stick horse, which can swallow a pure heart like a cormorant (the Professor's analogy from before).

The Daimon actually manages to shoot out the Moon Spiral Heart Attack with her pistol, shocking everyone... but then Pluto arrives with her attack- DEAD SCREAM!!! This distracts the monster enough for Sailor Moon to use the Double Transformation that lets her wipe it out with a new move (pretty much the same moves as the old one, but with a stream of hearts instead of a big one)- "Rainbow Moon Heartache".

This sets off some new stuff- Pluto as an actual fighter, working with Uranus & Neptune away from the others. Sailor Moon regularly "Double-Transforming" into Super Sailor Moon. The Daimons are now a little tougher, too. Hotaru & Chibi-Usa only hang out for like five seconds, which is pretty funny, given that this is the first episode in an eternity not to focus on Haruka & Michiru (who still are like "nah, we're not teaming up with you guys- we're too different"). But then Hotaru uses MAGICAL HEALING POWERS to heal up a scrape on Chibi-Usa. The two declare that they are friends, with the friendless Hotaru practically crying at the realization that Chibi-Usa ISN'T creeped out by her freaky powers... and then they meet her father. Professor Tomoe, aka "The Villain Behind The Scenes" up till this point!